Excellence in cardiology: The top U.S. hospitals in cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention

Healthgrades has announced its annual list of the top hospitals in the United States, providing data on a range of service lines. Among these are cardiac care, cardiac surgery and coronary intervention.

According to Healthgrades, if all hospitals performed as well as these award winners, the collective excellence would have potentially saved more than 200,000 lives throughout the country.  

“Healthgrades has a long-standing commitment to providing greater transparency when it comes to hospital quality,” Brad Bowman, MD, chief medical officer at Healthgrades, said in a prepared statement. “Our analysis is designed to help consumers better understand the importance of hospital quality and how it can affect patient care, which has never been more important.”

The Healthgrades 2021 Specialty Excellence Awards were determined using national Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data from 2017 to 2019. Take a deeper dive into the rankings below:

Cardiac care

A total of 102 hospitals were recognized for cardiac care, including 13 in California, 11 in Illinois and 10 in Ohio. These providers earned their awards for achieving “superior clinical outcomes in heart bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, heart attack treatment, heart failure treatment and heart valve surgery.”

No hospitals received the 2021 Specialty Excellence Award in cardiac care in these states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.  

Cardiac surgery

A total of 81 hospitals were recognized for cardiac surgery, including 12 in New York, 10 in California and nine in Illinois. These providers earned their awards for achieving “superior clinical outcomes in heart bypass surgery and heart valve surgery.”

No hospitals received the 2021 Specialty Excellence Award in cardiac surgery in these states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Coronary intervention

A total of 168 hospitals were recognized for coronary intervention, including 22 in New York, 17 in California and 15 in Illinois. These providers earned their awards for achieving “superior clinical outcomes in coronary intervention procedures.”

No hospitals received the 2021 Specialty Excellence Award in coronary intervention in these states: Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont.

A full list of recipients is available on the Healthgrades website.

Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

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